1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a decorative icicle and more particularly a decorative artificial icicle with a strong body and which is easily assembled during manufacturing and repair.
2. Description of Related Art
Christmas is a festive time during which people all over the world decorate Christmas trees and try to create an illusion of snowy weather etc in and around their homes. As Christmas occurs in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, those in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as in the tropics can never see icicles on trees outside their homes. Thus artificial icicles made of plastic or glass have long been a popular form of decoration for Christmas trees. Originally such icicles were simply made of glass and hung independently on the tree, but the lack of novelty soon led to boredom with such decorations and thus artificial icicles with illuminating devices housed thereinside were found on the market.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show one prior art decorative artificial icicle (80) comprising a tapered body and a plurality of light bulbs (90) connected by a supply wire (94) which extends from the body. The body is composed of two longitudinal hollow members (82) which are substantially symmetric and are joined together by series of mated integral pins (822) and sockets (824). As shown in FIG. 5, each hollow member (82) has pin (822) and socket (824) pairs formed along the length thereof and a pair of spaced apart legs (820) is formed between each pair of the pin (822) and socket (824). Each hollow member (82) further has a substantially closed top end with a half notch (826) defined centrally therein whereby when the hollow members (82) are combined an entrance is defined for access of the supply wire (94) to the interior of the body. The bulbs (90) are retained in a desired place within the body by engagement of a bulb holder (92) in a respective mated set of the legs (820). In use, electricity via the supply wire (94) lights the bulbs (90) which then radiate through the translucent body which may have an exterior formed with ribs to increase the decorative effect of the icicle which is suspended from a tree. However, the following drawbacks are experienced with the cited prior art artificial icicle:
(a) In assembly, an operator needs significant skill to line up the respective pins and sockets of the hollow members whereby the production of the icicle is slow and thus expensive. Furthermore, if, after purchase by a consumer, one of the bulbs of the icicle needs to be replaced due to malfunction, that consumer doesn""t have the skill of the manufacturer""s staff and thus will experience even more frustration first in trying to separate the hollow members and then trying to fit them together once the bulb has been replaced.
(b) It is necessary for the icicle to be made of plastic and the hollow members have quite thin walls, whereby the icicle body may well fracture during both manufacture and bulb replacement leading to a high rate of scrap and disappointment.
(c) As the icicles are required by consumers at Christmas, the manufacturers have to produce the icicles in the summer so that the stocks are ready at the retailers in time for the demand. However, currently the manufacturers are based in hot countries and so the fall in temperature between the summer in hot countries and the use of the icicle in winter results in changes in size of the pins and sockets whereby the difficult separation and re-assembly of the hollow members is aggravated.
(d) The seam between the hollow members sometimes becomes a gap because of variations during molding of the members, and that gap permits water and moisture to enter the icicle thereby creating potential short circuits.
The object of the present invention is to provide a decorative artificial icicle in which bulbs can be easily inserted during manufacture and easily removed for replacement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a decorative artificial icicle without a longitudinal seam whereby moisture cannot easily enter the interior of the icicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a decorative artificial icicle with a body which is easily manufactured.
A decorative artificial icicle in accordance with the present invention includes a conical tube with a long plug fitted inside the tube, and a plurality of bulbs mounted to the plug. An electricity supply cable extends into the tube to connect with the bulbs.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.